1 Ago ondro Samuele katate, lidri cini Yisaraele ro eri ta ndaro te.
Felesete'bai Payi Sänduku Tao'baro te
Tu ana si Yisaraele'bai fote tesi kyila oyene Felesete'bai be; ànya otoyi gawa te Ebenezere ya, ago Felesete'bai otoyi gawa te Afeka ya. 2 Felesete'bai gotayi Yisaraele te, ago ondro kyila keperevote oko, ànya peyi Yisaraele te ṛe, ago fuyi mànoago te kutu su (4,000) vo kyila oyero ya. 3 Ago ondro kyila'bai kegoyite kovole gawa ya oko, dri'bai Yisaraele ro atate ekye: “Tana e'di ondro ono OPI 'ba Felesete'bai gwo ama opene ṛe niya? Mì'de mèzi Sänduku Tao'baro OPI ro noŋwa ni Silo ya, tana nda kikyi robe ama lako ago kopa ama robe ni mbara kyila'baazii amaro ro ri.” 4 Ago ànya zoyi lazo'bai te Silo ya, ago ni nasi ezi Sänduku Tao'baro OPI Mbaraekye ro te, se rite beti malaikai vookwaro dri ana. Ago ŋgwàagoro ritu Eli ro Hofeni ndi Finasa be, ikyiyite lau Sänduku Tao'baro Lu robe.
5 Ondro Sänduku Tao'baro OPI ro kesate gawa ya oko, Yisaraele'bai cini tre otre riyä rote mbara amba si, ago gyini kandaru ndi kanda. 6 Ago ondro Felesete'bai keriyi kporo amo rote oko, ànya atayite ekye: “Tana e'di amo a'do gwo amba gawa Ebere'bai roya niya?” Ago ondro ànya kuniyite anjioko Sänduku Tao'baro OPI ro esate gawa Ebere'bai roya oko, 7 Felesete'bai a'dote turituri ro; ago ànya atayite ekye: “Lu esate gawa ànyaro ya.” Ago ànya atayite ekye: “Wu, amate rriti ya! Ŋga aza oso nonye a'do kote ämäri kätina. 8 Wu, ama te rriti ya, A'di unina ni ama opane ni mbara lui mbaraekye ono ro yasi ya? Kwoi ni lui se tufuyi Ezipeto'bai be taezaro cini dritoto si vocowa ya ana owo. 9 Nyùturi ko Felesete'bai, Mìye kyila oso mànoago ronye, ukyi nyà'do 'da iyeäṛii ro Ebere'bai ri oso sedri ànya ka'dobe ämäri ronye. Ta'doro mìye kyila oso mànoago ronye.” 10 Ago Felesete'bai yeyi kyila te mbara si, ago peyi Yisaraele te ṛe, ago kyila'bai Yisaraele ro muyite mano alo mute 'ba iro modona ya. Utufu lidri te orivoya amba, kyila'bai Yisaraele'bai ro se kabe aba pa si utufute orivoya kutu 'butenätu (30,000) lau. 11 Ago apa Sänduku Tao'baro OPI rote, ago ŋgwàagoro ritu Eli ro Hofeni ndi Finasa be äfute.
Odra Eli ro
12 Mano Benjamina ro aza imute ni vo kyila ro yasi, ago esate Silo ya 'bu'dä. Ago a'do tusuro ndaro ka'daza, nda wa boŋgo ndaro te ago da durufu te drî ndaro ya. 13 Ondro nda esate oko, nda usu Eli orivoya vo oriro ndaro dri litibiṛi ya voondrevoya, tana ya ndaro 'du loŋgaloŋga ro ta Sänduku Tao'baro Lu ro rota. Ago ondro mano ana kesate 'bakici ya ago kiti lazo te oko, lidri cini 'bakici ya amote liyi be. 14 Ondro Eli keri kporo liyiro te oko atate ekye: “Amo 'do e'di roya?” 'Dooko mano ana imute ndrindri Eli re ago iti tate ndäri. 15 Ndroa Eli rote 'butenjidriesu fonjidriena (98) ago mi ndaro zwete, ago ni voondre kote. 16 Ago mano ana atate Eli ri ekye: “Ma ni nda se kikyibe ni kyila yasi owo; mimu te ondro ni kyila yasi.” Ago Eli eji nda te ekye: “Ta e'diro a'doni ya, ŋgwa maro?” 17 Nda se kezo lazo be ana zatadrite ekye: “Yisaraele'bai muyite ni Felesete'bai risi; utufu lidri amaro te orivoya amba. Ago ŋgwàagoro ritu miro, Hofeni ndi Finasa be, äfu kpate ago Sänduku Tao'baro Lu ro apate.”
18 Ondro mano ana kata ta Sänduku Tao'baro Lu ro tana te oko, Eli e'dete kunduunduro ni vo oriro ndaro se loto dereŋwa lomvo ana drisi; ago kyembe ndaro laŋgote ago nda drate, tana nda te orivoya agoambago ro, ago läŋgyiläŋgyi ro. Nda a'dote dri'baro Yisaraele dri ndroa na 'butesu.
Odra Ävuzi Finasa ro ro
19 Ago toko Finasa ŋgwa Eli ro ro orivoya ŋgwa be, ago te ti utine. Ago ondro anya keri lazo te ekye apa Sänduku Tao'baro Lu rote, ago ambago anyaro ndi ago anyaro be drate oko, dori ya anyaro eto luwute ago anya ti ŋgwa te. 20 Ago ondro anya te ti odrane oko 'ditoko se kikyibe anya utine kai atate anyari ekye: “Nyuturi ko, tana miti ŋgwaagoro te.” Oko anya zatadri kote ago ti ta ata se ànya kabe atana ro kote. 21 Ago anya zi ävuru ŋgwa rote Ikaboda, se takacina anjioko. “A'do 'Desi Lu ro e'be Yisaraele te,” tana Sänduku Tao'baro Lu ro apate, ago ambago anyaro ndi ago anyaro be drate. 22 Ago anya atate ekye: “A'do 'desi Lu ro e'be Yisaraele te, tana apa Sänduku Tao'baro Lu rote.”
The Capture of the Covenant Box
1 At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, so the Israelites set out to fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting they defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the survivors came back to camp, the leaders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us today? Let's go and bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that he will go with us and save us from our enemies.” 4 So they sent messengers to Shiloh and got the Covenant Box of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with the Covenant Box.
5 When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook. 6 The Philistines heard the shouting and said, “Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it mean?” When they found out that the Lord's Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew camp, 7 they were afraid, and said, “A god has come into their camp! We're lost! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before! 8 Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert! 9 Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!”
10 The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter: thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. 11 God's Covenant Box was captured, and Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.
The Death of Eli
12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran all the way from the battlefield to Shiloh and arrived there the same day. To show his grief, he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head. 13 Eli, who was very worried about the Covenant Box, was sitting in his seat beside the road, staring. The man spread the news throughout the town, and everyone cried out in fear. 14 Eli heard the noise and asked, “What is all this noise about?” The man hurried to Eli to tell him the news. ( 15 Eli was now ninety-eight years old and almost completely blind.) 16 The man said, “I have escaped from the battle and have run all the way here today.”
Eli asked him, “What happened, my son?”
17 The messenger answered, “Israel ran away from the Philistines; it was a terrible defeat for us! Besides that, your sons Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and God's Covenant Box was captured!”
18 When the man mentioned the Covenant Box, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He was so old and fat that the fall broke his neck, and he died. He had been a leader in Israel for forty years.
The Death of the Widow of Phinehas
19 Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, and it was almost time for her baby to be born. When she heard that God's Covenant Box had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she suddenly went into labor and gave birth. 20 As she was dying, the women helping her said to her, “Be brave! You have a son!” But she paid no attention and did not answer. 21 She named the boy Ichabod, explaining, “God's glory has left Israel”—referring to the capture of the Covenant Box and the death of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 “God's glory has left Israel,” she said, “because God's Covenant Box has been captured.”